Quadruple amputee Philippe Croizon has successfully swam from Alaska to Russia, braving freezing waters and relying on paddle-like prosthetics to cut through the currents of the Bering Strait.

The Frenchman, whose limbs were amputated after he suffered a freak 20,000 volt accident in 1994, has now completed his quest to cross the waterways connecting the continents of Oceania, Asia, Europe, Africa, and America in his Intercontinental Straits Swimming Challenge.

The journey, from Alaska's Little Diomede Island to the Russian maritime border near Big Diomede Island, measured about 2.5 miles (4 km) and took the swimmer about an hour and 15 minutes to complete.

‘Philippe said it was the hardest thing
he ever did, even harder than crossing the English Channel,’ Marc
Gaviard, coordinator for the expedition, told Reuters. When he had
finished, ‘He was totally out of energy.’

Wetsuit mishap: Croizon swum from Papua New Guinea to Indonesia in a customised wetsuit, pictured, but on the final journey, his specifically designed wetsuit for the arctic water did not fit and he was forced to wear a thin wetsuit in the icy water

The
former electrical engineer lost the use of his lower limbs 18 years ago
at the age of 26 when he suffered 20,000 volt electric shocks while
changing a TV aerial.

It is
believed the first shock stopped his heart beating, while the second
actually jolted it back into action and saved his life.

Over a period of several months surgeons attempted to save his limbs but were eventually forced to amputate his arms and legs.

A
keen sportsman prior to his accident Croizon spent months in hospital
followed by years of physical re-education. He has battled depression
and despondency to return to the world of sporting achievement.

Making a splash: Croizon rests on the shore in the coastal village of Pasar Skow located in Indonesia after completing his swim from Oceania to Asia which took seven-and-a-half hours in May